Our prayers are with the family of Jayland Walker as they laid him to rest on Wednesday in Akron, Ohio, a place I know well and a community dear to my heart. We join all who gathered to mourn the brutal killing of their loved one.
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We share a Living Lutheran post from Rev. Howie Wennes, written at the start of the pandemic.
Once a month I do a Bible study for inmates at the Ventura County Jail. I once asked them, “Do you know where the ‘Complaint Department’ is in the Bible?” Surprised to hear that, they asked, “Where?”
I told them that the best example is in the book of Psalms. There are 150 psalms and 50 of them fit into the lament category. Laments are cries of pain and pleas for God to notice and help.
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On this Independence Day, I encourage us all to spend some time relearning our shared history. Take time to read through five reflections written by Women of the ELCA participants as part of a study of the ELCA Declaration to People of African Descent. Review the Repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery, adopted by both the ELCA (in 2016) and affirmed by Women of the ELCA (in 2017). It’s a start.
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New Spirit Lutheran in Tucson shares two videos for their annual report, one for their Blessings in a Backpack program, and one for their Homeless Blessings program, both made possible partially with help from a Grand Canyon Synod Grant.
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In this report, the Grand Canyon Synod Stewardship Team updates us on their Generosity Project Holy Exchange project, made possible partially with help from a Grand Canyon Synod Grant.
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In this report, Santa Cruz Lutheran in Tucson updates us on their audio/visual upgrade for live streaming, made possible partially with help from a Grand Canyon Synod Grant.
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In this report, Native American Urban Ministry in Phoenix updates us on their expansion of their online ministry and Christian education, made possible partially with help from a Grand Canyon Synod Grant.
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In this report, La Sagrada Familia in Phoenix updates us on their expansion of their youth and women’s ministries, made possible partially with help from a Grand Canyon Synod Grant.
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In this report, Central Lutheran in Arizona City and Casa Grande updates us on their seventh year of Adult Community Education (ACE), made possible partially with help from a Grand Canyon Synod Grant.
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In this report, Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Tucson shares an update on their GRACE Center which serves multiple organizations that the congregation supports through its Community Connections Team (LSS-SW, TIHAN, ICS, YOTO, etc.) as well as adding the Golden Ranch and NorthWest Fire Community Assistance Program, made possible partially with help from a Grand Canyon Synod Grant.
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In this report, Lord of Grace Lutheran in Tucson provides an update about their new live-streaming system, made possible partially with help from a Grand Canyon Synod Support Grant.
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Sara Cutter, with the ELCA’s 2023 Rostered Ministers Gathering in Phoenix, shares her report for our assembly and invites us to be involved.
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“Has all this inflation made you nervous and maybe made you think about pulling in and not being quite so generous so that you will have enough for yourself? I think that's only natural but often when we think about something being natural, it's really sin. By our own nature we don't tend to do good. But when the spirit gets a hold of us it can do great things through us.” Read in this post or view as PDF.
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June is National Pride Month and Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton shares a message celebrating the gifts of our LGBTQIA+ siblings. You enrich our church! We celebrate you this month and all year long.
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To be a female, Black and gay pastor on “Freedom Day” necessitates a certain amount of introspection, for my relationship with the church has long been a queer dance whose steps I don’t often apprehend.
Galatians 3:28 says: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” Yet this oneness has been elusive in the ELCA and elsewhere, has it not?
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Dear church,
Whatever personal perspective one might take on the June 24, 2022 abortion ruling from the Supreme Court, it is the legal framework in which we now minister, and I wish to speak a pastoral word at this time.
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In the video we shared at our 2022 Synod Assembly, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton urges us to follow Luther's example and use modern tools to spread the gospel, just as Luther shared the good news with the help of Gutenberg's printing press. 500 years ago this year, Martin Luther published his first translation of the New Testament into German vernacular.
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In her sermon, my pastor lamented that “each person killed was a precious and irreplaceable child of God,” on the Sunday following the racially motivated massacre of 10 shoppers and workers at the Tops supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y. The irreplaceability of each person made in God’s image stands in marked contrast to so-called “Great Replacement” theory, the fear that stoked the White shooter’s hatred and motivation to target and gun down people of African descent.
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The prolific and prophetic voices of Black people, Indigenous people and people of color in this denomination remind white folks such as myself that being a faithful Lutheran has very little to do with being polite. The Holy Spirit empowers us to tell the truth.
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The following reflections are the foundation of comments shared at the “Interfaith Vigil and Rally: Faith Acting on Gun Violence” by the Rev. Amy E. Reumann on June 8, 2022, hosted by Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Washington, D.C.
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